Stephen Hawking wants to make a spaceship fly to

The physical prince wants to create a micro-spacecraft that can fly to the "Second Earth" in Alpha Centauri's stellar system after about 25 years.

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is studying the design of a micro-spacecraft that can fly to the nearest star and transmit the image of the planet known as "Second Earth" within 25 years, Independent on 21 / 6 reported.

The Star Chip spacecraft is only a few centimeters in size with the main thrust device weighing several grams. The ship takes energy from a laser generator on Earth, helping to create a beam of light that pushes ships at speeds of 160 million km / h, a fifth of the speed of light.

"Such a system can go to Mars in less than an hour, to Pluto for a few days, far away from Voyager probe after almost a week and to Alpha Centauri star system after more than 20 years , " said Professor Hawking. to speak.

Professor Hawking suggested that the Star Chip spacecraft could probe the planet like Proxima Earth b.(Photo: Starmus).

"After that, the nano ship can take photos of all the planets in the system, check the magnetic field and organic molecules and then transfer the data to Earth with another laser beam. The signal will be used by the laser generator group. Most importantly, Star Chip's route can fly through Proxima b, the Earth-sized planet in the area that allows the survival of Alpha Centauri, " said Hawking. know.

Star Chip is part of the Breakthrough Star Shot project , with the goal of providing a real opportunity for people to explore and consider the possibility of space settlements, according to Hawking.

Because of the speed of movement, every image captured by the camera on the Star Chip will be slightly distorted due to the effects of special relativity, as described by physicist Albert Einstein. This is the first time an object moves fast enough to validate this effect.

In a speech at the Starmus Festival, Professor Hawking warned people to quickly colonize another planet if they wanted to survive.

The Moon and Mars are viable options, but both have limitations. The moon is quite small, there is no atmosphere or magnetic field to deflect solar radiation. Mars also lost its magnetic field and much of the atmosphere.

Professor Hawking emphasizes that humans need to build bases on the Moon in 2020 and bring people to Mars in 2025. Spatial travel can become a reality in the next 200-500 years.